Chelsea have agreed personal terms with Ajax defender Jorrel Hato and look set to wrap up their latest arrival in a lavish summer of spending, reports claim.
The Blues have been locked in talks to sign the highly-rated 19-year-old, a promising young Dutch international who already has over 100 games under his belt for his club.
His agent confirmed that negotiations had taken place and Hato is rapidly closing in on sealing his move to Stamford Bridge for a fee worth around €40million (£34.7m).
That is according to Fabrizio Romano, who has also reported that Hato has informed Ajax's hierachy of his desire to make the switch to Chelsea.
The interest from Enzo Maresca's side was made public in recent days after Hato's representative Humphry Hijman told Dutch publication De Telegraaf: 'The only thing I can say is that Jorrel is now going to talk to Chelsea.'
The highly-rated Hato is a left back who can also operate in central defence - and he is understood to have been on the radars of Arsenal and Liverpool, too.
The Reds were keen after the departure of Jarrell Quansah for Bayer Leverkusen, as reported by Mail Sport, while Arsenal have also been following him closely.
Chelsea have already made a splash in the summer market, signing Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro, Liam Delap, Dario Essugo and Estevao. Noni Madueke's £52m switch to rivals Arsenal and their Club World Cup victory have helped to boost their coffers.
Ajax were initially said to have valued Hato in the region of £60m but, in a major boost for the Blues, the fee being discussed is for just over half that price tag.
Hato played for his country at the UEFA European Under-21 Championship this summer, where they lost 2-1 to eventual winners England in the semi-finals.
On paper, he would be able to provide fierce competition for Marc Cucurella at left back or push for a starting role in the heart of Maresca's backline.
Arsenal are well stocked at the back with Gabriel, WIlliam Saliba and Riccardo Calafiori to be joined by the incoming Cristhian Mosquera from Valencia.
The Spaniard underwent a medical last week ahead of his imminent move, worth £13m with added bonus payments, and the Gunners looked to have accidentally confirmed the deal early after publishing an image on their club website.
The photo showed Mosquera in his training gear during what appeared to be his welcome interview at Arsenal's London Colney HQ.